Dr. Elizabeth S. Cochran is an observational seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Elizabeth serves as Project Chief of the Induced Seismicity project in the Earthquake Science Center. Her research interests include investigating the link between increased earthquake rates in the Central and Eastern U.S. and energy production activities, specifically disposal of large volumes of wastewater. She also conducts research on earthquake early warning, earthquake triggering, rupture processes, and seismic wave propagation, and has led several large seismic deployments following significant earthquakes in the United States. Elizabeth previously served as Chief Scientist of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning project working to develop a system to warn of incoming ground shaking from moderate to large earthquakes. She was also the co-founder of the Quake Catcher Network, a crowd-sourced seismic network that uses low cost sensors connected to desktop or inside of laptops and phones located in homes, offices and schools to detect earthquakes. Elizabeth received a B.S. in geophysics from University of California, Santa Barbara and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2010, she was recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.

SCEC Participation

SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Co-Leader (2009 - 2016)
SCEC Mentor (2007)